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Re: Rank the East

1. Chicago - assuming Rose and Noah are healthy enough to play 70 games each, Gasol should push them to near Spurs level

2. Cleveland - League wants / needs Lebron to succeed and should give him the Jordan treatment even moreso this season

3. Washington - played well and seemed to be able to match our physicality during the playoffs

4. Indiana - My heart says Lance being gone solves everything, Hibbert and Hill return to form and Miles and Stuckey provide passing on a consistent basis. My head says that a lot of confidence was drained out of the Pacers last year and assimilating the new guys will take quite a while, plus Vogel is likely to be pushed into changing the offense and our defense will suffer as a result

5. Miami - One and a half out of the big 3 ain't bad, plus they added passing and some shooting

6. Atlanta

7. Toronto

8. Charlotte - Could be higher, might not make the playoffs. Depends on where on the Good Lance - Bad Lance continuum that Lance averages being on and off the court and how negative an impact he ends up being on the rest of the Hornecats

Re: Rank the East

If Cleveland lands Love I see them as a threat to the #1 seed but likely 2. It just takes time to gel with that many changes.
No team has made a move that I feel upsets the Pacers but 1-3 will be a close race and could go any way. Chicago is the team most likely to have injury issues that kill any momentum they get going.
I agreed with Larry when he said mid season that if we didn't get Lance we'd be o.k. and I agree now. Lance had a positive impact in about 50% of the games he played, and had a negative impact in 40% with the rest being neutral IMO. We won a lot of games in spite of Lance and his stupid plays. We won a few because of him. I still see this as a 52 win team and I think that may be all it takes to win the East this year with the parity in competition we now face.

Re: Rank the East

I've put the teams in tiers. Each team has a range of best case-worst case scenario for what tier they could wind up in.

Tier 1
Cleveland (1) - LeBron is still that good, and they'll add someone else. Favorites.
Chicago (1-2) - Still tough to predict, but if they stay relatively healthy, they are better than us.
Indiana (1-3) - We're the wildcard of the East. So many things we don't know yet about our team. Best case we win the conference, worst we finish 9th.

Tier 2
Washington (1-2) - Bradley Beal will take that big year 2 to 3 leaps lots of players do. John Wall will be better. They are skilled and balanced. Could finish as high as the 2 seed.
Miami (2) - PG is still the biggest question mark. Deng replacing LeBron keeps them a top 5 team in the East with the rest of their moves.
Charlotte (2) - Will be fun to watch. Lots of energy and talent. Lance is a perfect fit. I'm jealous of Hornets fans this year.
Toronto (2) - Pretty much brought the same team back. They could wind up better than Charlotte and Miami but the 4 seed is their ceiling.
Atlanta (2-3) - With a healthy Horford, they could finish as high as the 4 seed. Thabo Sefalosha is a good fit.

Tier 3
Detroit (2-3) - New SVG era, more a question of leadership changes than player changes. We'll find out.
New York (2-4) - New Phil Jackson era, more a question of leadership changes than player changes. We'll find out.
Brooklyn (3-4) - Old and washed up, but still probably better than the basement
Boston (3) - Will all depend on what happens with Rondo, but they aren't going to make the playoffs, nor will they be in the basement. Moderately talented and Brad Stevens has them moving the ball.

Tier 4
Milwaukee (3-4) - The Freak and Jabari will be fun. If Larry Sanders is healthy, they're a dark horse to climb as high as the 9 spot.
Philadelphia (4) - Loooong term rebuild, but if Noel/Embiid works out, watch out in 5 years.
Orlando (4) - They signed Ben Gordon and Channing Frye. Afflalo is gone. 20 win ceiling.

Re: Rank the East

I feel like Atlanta is being severely underrated. They have a great coach, solid depth, and a tough top four of Teague/Korver/Millsap/Horford. I'd be surprised if they aren't top four in the East if they remain relatively healthy. I also don't think the East is that bad. This year will even more starkly demonstrate that one coast is all about offense and the other about defense.

Re: Rank the East

Unless Bird can swing a trade, we are no longer a powerhouse in the east. It will take another leap from Paul George in development for us to contend in the East. PG will basically need to be an MVP candidate with how the roster is currently constructed. Besides Paul George, the only player I have any confidence in is David West. We still have a lousy bench. I know Roy Hibbert is supposed to be a beast defensively, and yet he was benched in the Atlanta series. I cannot remember any DPOY candidate being benched in the playoffs. Maybe Roy is a head case, or maybe opposing coaches figured him out. I have also read several posts saying that we can expect George Hill and CJ Miles to play well for us. If your team is counting on George Hill and CJ Miles in order to be a contender, your roster is seriously flawed

Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

Re: Rank the East

This is just a gut reaction to my thoughts as they stand right now and with no additions or changes to the current roster so under no circumstance is this to be considered my official standings, just a snapshot of today.

Again that's just a gut feeling from right now. I could see arguments for Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte or even Indiana being higher.

I just have a sneaky feeling that Bradley Beal is going to the next level this season and from what I've seen of Otto Porter in the summer league (yes I know its the summer league) he looks to have improved his game significantly.

Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13